I recently picked up a couple of Beretta's in 9mm, a new caliber for me. Aha! a good excuse to add a set of dies do some loading.

Researched load info, powders, bullet weights, etc. Got set up today and ran out some ammo. Frankly, it's kind of a pain. The brass is so small it's difficult to handle and seat in the shellholder (Dillon 550) and production was not nearly as proficient as cranking out 45 ACP.

Since I'm really just loading for the enjoyment of loading and not really looking to find super-accurate rounds (mostly this will be for paper and target busting), is it worth the effort to load 9mm? I can buy a 100-round box of Winchester white box for super-cheap for this kind of shooting....

Reload for the improved accuracy. If you can afford to buy bulk I bet you could save money but I reload because I can't afford factory brass and mine is more accurate so I can't afford to take advantage of those savings. If you load copper plated you can save some money and avoid leading issues though.

It is for me. I shoot 9mm in IDPA, GSSF, Bullseye and of course practice. I can go through a few rounds. I am still loading for around $7 per 100 and can load them at that price for another 1500 rounds. Even with the price increase on components it will still be a lot cheaper to reload than buy new. Not to mention my reloads are better than WWB so if you want to buy factory ammo as good as reloads you will need to spend more than the cheap WWB price.
Rusty

If you don't enjoy reloading 9mm, don't. I reload them on a 550B and some times have problems with the size. I've found that walking away for the day helps. I mostly enjoy any reloading. Usually when frustrated its because something going on around me prevents keeping my mind on the reloading. I quit trying to load .25 acp because of the problem your having.
James

My 9mm loads cost me .085 per round using CCI primers, HS-6, and Montana Gold 115gr JHP's That's $85/thousand using my cases. Last new 115 gr FMJ's I bought were over $100/thousand and I had to pay shipping.

This can be beat to death, but the 9mm can be reloaded to decrease costs. Since you are not loading for a Glock or HK with a polygonal bbl, you can decrease your costs by using hard cast lead bullets!

I can seen what you mean about case handling on the 550, my rate increases 6 minutes per 500 loading 9mm over 45ACP. I still load the 9mm. I load for the enjoyment, and knowing that it gets me more bang for my buck!

Depends on how you define worth. To me, it's definitely worth it. I get extremely consistent ammo that is custom tailored to my pistol and I can do that cheaper than what I can buy commercially. Using Winchester primers, Vv N320, and Bear Creek 125gr (I'd consider them 130gr seeing as most hover at the 129.6gr point and load them based on that weight and not the advertised weight) poly/moly coated LRN...I can produce 9mm ammo for $73.50/1K rnds. The cheapest I could buy ammo for locally is $150/1K (after taxes). Now, depending on how much time I can get out to practice between monthly matches, I can go through 1-2K rnds in a month. It's definitely worth it for me to load my own 9mm (and .45acp...and .38super...and .40smith).

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